"Fasten Your Seatbelt!"... U.S. Republican Congressman Swims to Safety After Emergency Landing

"I believe God was watching over us"
"Our lives were saved thanks to the pilot's skills"

A small aircraft carrying U.S. Congressman Tom Tiffany (68), the Republican candidate for governor of Wisconsin, made an emergency landing on a lake.

According to foreign media outlets such as The Washington Post (WP) and Fox News on September 13 (local time), Representative Tiffany was involved in the incident the previous night after having dinner in Onalaska, Wisconsin and returning home on a small plane. As the aircraft was approaching Wausau Downtown Airport for landing, it lost power and made an emergency landing on nearby Lake Wausau. At the time, there were two people on board: Representative Tiffany and the pilot, Leonard Boltz.

As the plane began to sink into the water, both individuals escaped the aircraft and swam to shallow water. Subsequently, rescuers arrived on an airboat, located the two, and saved them.

The photo is unrelated to specific expressions in the article. Pixabay

Both men sustained minor injuries. Representative Tiffany suffered a laceration above his right eye, which was stitched up before he was released from the hospital. Boltz was also injured and reportedly received four stitches.

Afterwards, Representative Tiffany held a press conference and recalled the moments of the accident. He said, "The pilot told me, 'We're going down. You need to tighten your seatbelt,'" and "So I grabbed the seatbelt and pulled it tight." He added, "Probably about 10 seconds later, we hit the water." He commented, "We were really lucky," and "It felt like God was watching over us last night."

Representative Tiffany said that the pilot's experience and quick judgment played a major role in preventing the emergency landing from escalating into a major accident. Boltz, a former Air Force flight instructor, raised the plane's landing gear before approaching the water. According to Tiffany, this action helped prevent the airplane from flipping over on the surface of the lake.

Representative Tiffany stated, "He was experienced enough to quickly decide that the landing gear needed to be raised. He did exactly that, and it might have saved our lives." He continued, "I'm glad the plane didn't flip, and I believe that's thanks to the pilot's skills."

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is currently investigating the detailed cause of the accident.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.